Fluid dispenser device



` DEC- 18, 1955 J. E. TEEGARDIN ET AL 2,774,517

FLUID DISPENSER DEVICE Filed Sept. 19, 1955 JAMES e" rEEGARD/N i sE/vJAM/N o. MEN/mv,

INVENTORS.

Huebner, Bee/ller,

War're/ C Herzig.

v Arron/vers. BY" M W United States Patent() FLUID DISPENSER `DEVICE James E. Teegardin, Altadena, and Benjamin D. Menkn, Los Angeles, Calif.

Application September 19,1955, Serial No. 535,098

7 Claims. (Cl. 222-205) The present invention relates to a lift pump, and particularly to a lift pump for a fluid dispenser device.

A lift pump of the type used in ilu-id dispensers, for example, should be of eflicientv and compactconstruction and contain a minimum number of moving parts. YThe parts of the lift pump preferably should be interchangeable and designed for convenient and rapid assembly land disassembly for cleaning and other purposes. Furthermore, the assembled lift pump should be economical in cost, eicient and positive in its operation, and give long, trouble-free service.

Accordingly, it is an importantobject of the invention to provide a lift pump of eicient and compact design and construction and containing aminimum number of moving parts.

Another object is lto provide a lift pump made of interchangeable parts for flexibility in useand designed for convenient and rapid assembly and disassembly for cleaning and other purposes.

A further object is to provide a lift pump for a liquid dispenser characterized by low cost, -high efficiency, Vpositive operation, and capacity for giving long, trouble-free service.

Additional objects will become apparent from thevfollowing description:

Statedin general terms, the lift pump of the invention comprises a cylinder' having an internal projection means, preferably an internal annular flange means, lin the top of the cylinder, and -a resilient or flexible piston operatively mounted in the cylinder. The flexibility or resiliency of the piston is designed to permit snapping the piston into the cylinder past the internal projection or ilange means during assembly of the piston and cylinder. lThe internal projection or flange means is, in turn, designed to facilitate this assembly operation and to resist 4any disassembly of .the .piston and cylinder unlessthe piston is forcefully snapped out .of the cylinder past the internal projection or flange means.

A more detailed description of a specic embodiment of the invention is given with reference to the drawing, wherein:

Figure l is a cross-sectional elevational view showing a lift pump incorporated in a lluiddispenser assembly .mounted on a bottle;

The bottom wall 11 is made considerably F"ice thicker than the'side wall 12. A ball valve unit consisting of a ball valve 13 and a seat'14 is positioned in the bottom of the cylinder. The seat 14 is made concentric 4inthe'ibottom `wall 11 at the bottom of a funnel-shaped portion 15 and communicates with a lift pipe 16 through `a nipple 17 tightly-fitted i-nto the lift .pipe C20, as shown in Figure 1.

The upper end of the cylinder '1'0 is joined annularly to the'bottom vofa funnel-shaped cap portion 16. The cap T16, in'turn, is joined annularly to the top of a cylindrical, internally threaded cap portion 17 adapted for threadedlycengaging a bottle'18 or otherliquid receptacle or container. The juncture between cap portions 16 and 17 is made by an annular portion 19 having a lower flat surface vfor tightly seating on the lip of bottle 18.

Also -seated'in the bottom 11 of cylinder 14B is the lower end of a vertically disposed helical compression spring 22. vThe springfZZ isseated in an annular seat 23 concentric with seat 14 and made of sufiicient diameter to yaccommodate `spring 22. The inside diameter of spring 22 fis made somewhat larger than the diameter of ball `valve 13 so that the ball can move within the spring during its valving operation. The upper end or" spring 22 is designed to engage the lower ends of longitudinal ribs 24 of a piston member 26 under a spring load.

Piston kmember 26 contains a conical or flared piston portion 27 having its lower annular edge 2S parallel to the 'inside cylinder wall 29 and in frictional engagement with the cylinder wall. The'frictional engagement is produced by resilience or flexibility in the flared piston portion 27 urgingthe, parallel edge Z8 against the cylinder wall 29. to restrict `the flow of gas or liquids between the vedge 28 and .the wallv 29.

Connected tothe upper annular edge of piston portion 27 is a cylindrical Vportion 31,. Ribs 23 preferably are made integral with .the cylindrical portion y31 and extend radially from the inside wall thereof. Also extending radiallyf-rom the inside wall of cylindrical portion 31 is an annular seatpportion 32 provided with aconical seat 33 on its upper.portion for seating a ball valve '34.

The cylindrical portion 31 of piston member 26 is tightly .fitted into a cylindrical extension 36 extending concentrical-ly from the bottom of a funnel-shaped or dished member 37. The lower annular edgeof cylindrical extension 36 isprovided with an external annular flange 38 that .lits slidably inside cylinder wall '29 but'is of ,greaterperiphera'l diameter than an annular .internal flange 39 formed at thel juncture of the upper end of cylinder 10 with thebottom of cap portion 16. The-inner annular edge of flange 359 is made to converge Vto a sharp circular edge. The upper side of the ange 39 preferably is an extension of the innersurface ot'cappertion 16, and thelowerside of. the Y'flange preferably corresponds to the annular edge .ofthe lower end of lcap portion 16 joining the top cicylindrical wall 29.

The outside diameter .of .annular edge 28 is approximately `.equal to, or-slightly .greater than, the outside diameter .of annular flange 5.8 and is, therefore, also :greater .than .the inside .diameter .of .internal flange v39.

-tivelybe forced toward and into the sharpinner Vedge of flange '39"by radially-inwardly compressing them sufri- :ciently to snap 'thempastethe ilange'iil and into frictional kcontact with cylinder `*wall 29.

fln :the thus -.asserrrbled `pump mechanism, the :cylin- Vidrica-l extension 3.6 andthe pistonportion`27 are retained inconcentric, slidable relationship inside cylinder -10 unless forcefully pulled therefrom with suflcient lforce to radially inwardly compress liange 38 or piston portion 27 suiciently to snap them outwardly plast ilange 39. Also, in the assembled pump mechanism, helical spring -22 is designed to normally urge flange 38 upward into engagement with the lower side of llange 39, `as shown in lFigures 1 and 3, but with insufficient force to snap ange 38 past ange 39.

The funnel-shaped, or dished member 37, at its annular line of juncture with the upper end of cylindrical extension 36 is .provided with a bottom 41 provided with apertures 42. Apertures 42 'establish communication between the inside of bottle 118 and the atmosphere in member 37 throu-gh a .chamber 43, valve seat 33, .a .space 44 (Figure 4) between ribs '24, the interior of cylinder 10, nipple 17, and pipe 20, when ball valves 113 and 34 are unseated. The upper annular edge of member 37 is joined to the annular upper edge of a cylindrical portion 46 of somewhat greater inside diameter than the outside diameter -of portion 17.

The various parts of the assembled pump mechanism can be made of a suitably insoluble and inert resilient material such as resilient plastics materials. Polyethylene, r .any of numerous non-.metallic plastics materials available on the market, `and in the process of development, can be used. In one embodiment of the invention, the ball valves 13 and 3'4, and helical spring 22, are made of steel and the other parts are d-ie case of polyethylene. All of the parts can be made of stainless steel brother metals or -alloys of suitable resilience and preferably insolubility `and inertness in the 'liquids or iluids to be dispensed by the device of the invention.

The operation of the embodiment of the invention shown in the drawing is described with particular reference to F-igures 5 and 6. Funnel-shaped member 37 is forced manually downward against the tension in spring 22, `thereby .compressing it, .as shown in Figure 5. In

this downstroke operation, piston .portion 27 is moved downward and lforces air, or other fluid, upward, as indicated by the arrows, because ball valve 13 is seated. Ball valve 34, on the other hand, is unseated, and the air, or other fluid, is forced into the atmosphere through apertures 42. The downstroke is completed when piston 27 contacts the bottom 111 yof cylinder 10.

Release of manu-al pressure on member 37 causes piston 27 to move upward, as shown in Figure 6, in an upstroke movement, because of the compressive force in spring 22. During this upstroke movement, ball valve 34 is seated and air, or other i'luid, is drawn upward from nipple 17 and pipe 20, as indicated by the arrows, into the interior cavity of cylinder 10. This upward movement of lair, or other fluid, is induced by the pressure inside bottle 18, or other container, Iand is accompanied by a movement olf liquid from the main body upward in pipe 20.

A repetition of the downstroke and upstroke movements ot piston 27 results in the further movement of liquid upward through pipe and nipple 17 into cylinder 10, and nally into dished member 37 through apertures 42, .as `a result of the pumping action described above. Once the liquid, or other uid, of the main body in bottle 18 has reached the bottom of dished member 37, a single downstroke and upstroke movement of piston 27 pumps ya measured increment of liquid, or other fluid, into dished member 37. This can be removed by any desired method.

The specific embodiment of the invention sho-wn in the drawings is designed for use in dispensing liquid or iluid medicinals, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, oils, alcohols, and the like, including solvents 'or solutions containing ether, acetone, caustic, other basic materials or acids, as well as reactive materials such as hydrogen peroxide and iodine, for example. The dished member 37 is conveniently shaped for dipping a rwad of cotton or other absorbent material therein Ito soak up a portion od 4 the material pumped into member 37 .tor convenient ap plication to parts of the body.

It will be observed that the fluid dispenser device described above is of eiicient and compact construct-ion and contains a minimum number of moving parts. The die cast parts of the unit are interchangeable with those of other dispenser units and are capable of being conveniently and rapidly assembled and disassembled. In addition, the cost of the dispenser device is low, and it is capable of giving eilicient and positive operation, and long, trouble-rtree service.

The `foregoing description is .given in connection with a particular embodiment of the invention primarily to illustrate that specific embodiment. It is understood that many changes, modifications or variations in structure, design or details of the illustrated iluid dispenser device will occur to one skilled in -the art and that the invention can be applied 'to a variety 'oi fluid dispensers. Forexample, the structure or design of annular internal flange 39 can be any suitable internal projection means. The structure of piston portion 27 need not necessarily .be conical and the structure or relative posit-ion of flange 33 need not ynecessarily be as shown in the drawing. Also, Valves other than ball valves 13 and 3'4 may be employed. Accordingly, it is -understood that such Iapplications of the invention and .such changes, modi-lications or variations in the speciiic embodiment of the invention illustrated and described above maybe made within the scope of the .appended claims without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A iluid dispensing device `comprising a cylinder, an internal projection means in the wall of the cylinder, a resilient piston operatively mounted in the cylinder, a resilient external projection means associated with the piston for .limiting lits stroke in the cylinder, the resiliency of the piston and the external projection means being adapted -for snapping them past the internal .projection means into the cylinder, a valve mounted in the wall of the cylinder for valving `fluid thereinto, a second valve for valving fluid out of the cylinder, and a spring means .for urging the piston through a return stroke.

2. A -fluid dispensing device according to claim l, wherein the valves are ball valves and the spring means is a helical compression spring.

3. A uid dispensing device according to claim 1, wherein the internal projection means is an annular ange having a sharp inner edge, the piston is of generally conical shape for added resilience, and the external projection is an annular flange having an outside diameter substantially equal to that of the piston.

4. A fluid dispensing device according to claim 1, wherein the valves are ball valves, the spring means is a helical compression spring, the internal projection means is an annular flange having a sharp inner edge, the piston is of generally conical shape for added resilience, and the external projection is an annular flange having an outside diameter substantially equal to that of the piston.

5. In a lluid dispensing device in combination, cylinder means, means projecting inwardly of said cylinder means, piston means reciprocable within said cylinder means, means spaced from said piston means and projecting outwardly of said piston means, interengagement of said projecting means serving to limit reciprocation of said piston means within said cylinder means, at least one of said projecting means being resilient for enabling said piston means to be assembled into said cylinder means by resilient retraction of said resilient means, and means for valving iluid into and out of said cylinder means.

6. In a fluid dispensing device in combination, cylinder means, resilient means projecting inwardly of said cylinder means, piston means reciprocable Within said cylinder means, interengagement of said projecting means and a portion of said piston means serving to limit reciprocation of said piston means Within said cylinder means, the resilience of said projecting means enabling said piston means lto be assembled into said cylinder means by resilient retraction of said resilient means, and means for valving fluid into and out of said cylinder means.

7. The combination of claim 6 wherein said portion of said piston means is also resilient, thereby to enhance References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Arden Apr. 24, 1917 

